In the News

News Releases

BMC Ranks 30th in Geriatrics, 38th in Pulmonology in U.S. News & World Report’s 2010-11 Best Hospitals

Boston Medical Center (BMC) has been ranked 30th in geriatrics and 38th in pulmonology in U.S. News & World Report's 2010-11 Best Hospitals, online at http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings and featured in the August print issue of U.S.News, available on newsstands July 27.

The rankings in the specialties in which BMC was rated were driven by hard data such as death rates, procedure volume, and balance of nurses and patients.

"The Section of Geriatrics has a long tradition of being ranked among the top programs in the US,” said Rebecca Silliman, MD, BMC chief of Geriatrics. “This is due to our reputation of providing exceptional collaborative interdisciplinary care to Boston's most vulnerable elders in their homes, nursing homes, our ambulatory practice, and our inpatient service. Our clinicians and administrative and support staffs are to be congratulated for their outstanding work."

"It is very gratifying to know that our devotion to patient care has been recognized again,” said David Center, MD, chief of Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep and Critical Care Medicine at BMC. “It has always been our goal to create a unique experience for our patients by providing the highest quality care combined with a commitment to understanding their lung diseases through research. They inspire us to look for every possible way to make life with lung diseases more livable."

To be considered in any of the 12 data-driven specialties, a hospital first had to meet at least one of four criteria: It had to be a teaching hospital, or be affiliated with a medical school, or have at least 200 beds, or have 100 or more beds and the availability of four or more types of medical technology considered important in a high-quality medical facility, such as a PET/CT scanner and certain precision radiation therapies.

Next, the hospitals had to meet a volume requirement, individually calculated for each specialty. The required volume was the number of Medicare inpatients from 2006 to 2008 who had various specified procedures and conditions in the specialty. A hospital that fell short could still qualify if it had been nominated by at least one physician in any of the U.S. News Best Hospitals reputational surveys conducted in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

"When the stakes are high, you want the best care you can get for yourself or someone close to you," said Health Rankings Editor Avery Comarow. "These hospitals are accustomed to seeing the sickest patients day in and day out."